October 8, 2011 - 11:40am
Oven set up for baguettes
I've had trouble coming up with a good steaming method for my baguettes. I get the best results when I cover my bread, but that's hard to do with baguettes, unless you're willing to bake them one at a time. I like the roasting pan method and also La Cloche, but I could never figure out how to manage two covered tops with the space I have in my oven. This morning I took my one and only La Cloche baguette baker and used the top AND the bottom, so that I could easily fit two baguettes side by side on top of my stone. It cut my baking time in half.
Share
Well, that makes such good sense! Thanks for the idea. Baguettes look beautiful.
What a great idea! Baguettes look beautiful, too!
Pam
Thanks Pam and Bart. I have tried the oblong tin foil pans, but I don't think they gave me enough of a seal to create adequate steam. I was on the verge of buying a second La Cloche when this occurred to me.
Hi Barbara, was the stone preheated, or the baguette bakers ? Your idea seems a good one, and the loaves turned out really well. Thanks, Ray
Hi Ray, sorry, but you sent your question to bartwin, and it should go to Barbara K.
Hi Ray,
I preheated the stone for the entire time, and then put the clay pieces in for the last 15 minutes. This way the stone was able to get to temperature without the upper pieces blocking the heat. Thank you, I was pleased with the results.
Barbara
Great Crust and color on those baguettes , Barbara!
I've tried many contraptions to arrive at the perfect baking/steaming results... and although yours promises good results, it is too much hassle. Why don't you try TFL's Sylvia steaming towels technique, along with your regular lava stone-in a pan, shown above? Larry (Wally) is a pro. baker who has tried the steaming method with his venting oven and it worked splendidly.
You could still emulate the wonderful bloom you had on your baguettes with preheatin your stone loaded oven for upto an hour, and load the two stone laid racks with more baguttes. The first rack should be a notch nearer to the top elements. With the stones at 500F and a close radiant heat , you'll get evenly baked baguettes with wonderful grigne and color, and an outstanding oven spring.
Good Luck!
Hi Mebake,
Thanks so much for your suggestions. I have actually tried the towel/lava stone tray technique; you can probably see the set up in the bottom of my oven. However, I couldn't seem to get the color I wanted, maybe because I was getting too much steam with no real way to vent, I don't know. I felt this method gave me more control over the amount of steam I was able to generate. I'll try your suggestion about raising the rack closer to the heat source. I generally preheat my oven to 500 degrees and keep the heat high for the time the loaves are covered, then reduce the heat to 475 for the remainder of the bake.
Barbara